This is a daily tally of all the New Era caps I own, wear and pay tribute to the long history of teams and players who have donned the cap before me. Almost every hat I own has a special marking recognizing players, stats or special events within the history and era of the team and style I sport. It's a mix of fun and history as presented through my eyes and mind because I love the game so much, and wish to honor those who have played before as I cheer for those of the present.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

May 4- New York Mets

It’s no real surprise to baseball fans that the New York
Mets have been an ongoing joke since their first year in 1962. Even though the
team won two World Series titles in 1969 and 1986, they’ll always be the
punch-line of any joke, tasteful or not, that the sport has to offer. Having
not been alive for the season between 1962 and 1982 I really have no basis of
comparison to really validate any of the jokes from that time period. I merely
have Ken Burns Baseball and almanacs
to assist me with that. The jokes that I can vouch for; however, all take place
after the 1989 season.

For those of you who don’t know, or don’t remember, the very
first game I can recall ever watching is Game six of the 1986 World Series;
probably one of the greatest games in baseball history and a fantastic one for
an up-and-coming baseball fan to cut his teeth on. Outside of winning the
Series the Mets had gone 108-54 on the season under then manager Davey Johnson,
a record that still stands as their best in franchise history. In 1988 he led
the team to the National League Championship Series behind a 100-62 record,
tied for the second best record in Mets history. The Mets lost to the Los
Angeles Dodgers in seven games; and the Dodgers would move on to with the World
Series that year. In 1989 the Mets finished in second place (87-75) and in 1990
Johnson was fired after starting the season 20-22, paving the way for Bud
Harrelson who went 71-49 as Johnson’s replacement. Despite producing the two
greatest years in Mets history, including a World Series trophy, Johnson was
canned for a ridiculous reason; the Mets’ brass wasn’t exactly fond of his
coaching methods.Years later, Johnson
summed up his approach to managing by saying, "I treated my players like
men. As long as they won for me on the field, I didn't give a flying fuck what
they did otherwise."

With a solid finish of the 1990 season in his pocket,
Harrelson began his first full season as a manager in the Majors in 1991. He
wouldn’t even finish the season. Harrelson would only manage 154 of those
games, going 74-80 before getting the axe as Mike Cubbage went 3-4 to finish
the season out. The Jeff Torborg era lasted one-and-a-quarter season from
1992-1993, ushering in the Dallas Green era which turned out to be a four-year
pile of suck as Green replaced Torborg part-way into the ’93 season to finish
46-78. Green was fired near the end of the 1996 season after going 229-283
during his time. Green’s replacement, Bobby Valentine, finished out the ’96
season with a 12-19 record, but was allowed to keep the job as skipper going
into the 1997 season. So let’s break it down for all of you playing at home;
Johnson, the most successful manager in Mets history was canned despite his
results, three more unsuccessful managers came and went and now we have Bobby V
in the ranks. Yah, this all makes perfect sense why the Mets are a laughing
stock. But I’m not done yet.

With yet another changing of the guard it only med sense
that the Mets would make a few changes to their uniforms as well. I mean why
not? The Mets had only been using the same hat for every game since their debut
in 1962. Yah, this is kind of a big deal. You would kind of think that the
Mets, always competing with their cross-town counter part New York Yankees, would
unveil something totally badass. Weeeeellllll… no. They brought out the ice
cream hat.

Seriously, that’s what the media called it. What made it
even worse is that the Mets introduced new white uniforms as well. And by
white, I mean all white. They cut out the pinstripes, thus leaving something
that looked like everyone who wore it should be working in a malt shop circa
1955. Might be a good time to run for mayor.

I will say one thing for the Mets; they made a smart move by
bringing Valentine on as their skipper. He went 536-467 from the end of
1996-2002 including a trip to the World Series in 2000. But, like every other
manager in Mets history, if you have one bad season you’re done… unless you’re
Dallas Green.

When I first marked this cap up I had put “’97” on it as a
mere reminder to Mets fans of how things could always be worse than it looks. I
then looked through a few of the players’ numbers and made an interesting
observation as to how this cap and uniform set may have actually helped two
players improve their career. So, without further ado, here you go!

#0- Most people won’t remember him as #0; however, that was
how Rey Ordonez started his Major League career out. He wore #0 from 1996-1997
and switched it to #10 for the remainder for his stint with the Mets and the
one year he played with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.While many historians and Mets fans would
contest that ’97 was nothing to brag about for Ordonez, I say you’re looking at
the wrong numbers. Yes, offensively he had the worst full year of his career;
batting .216 with one home run and 33 RBI. The numbers I’m looking at are his
defensive numbers. In 1997 Ordonez won his first of three consecutive Gold
Gloves at shortstop, an impressive feat considering that Cincinnati Reds
shortstop and Hall of Famer had cleaned house on the previous three. Not bad
Rey, not bad at all.

#28- Unless you’re a hardcore Mets fan, I doubt very few of
you remember a pitcher named Bobby Jones. No, I’m not talking about the Hall of
Fame golfer whom Hollywood
made a movie about staring Jim Caviezel in 2004. I’m talking about the guy who
pitched for the Mets from 1993-2000.

Jones was a first round pick by the Mets in the 1991 amateur
draft out of Fresno
State. He made his debut
on August 14, 1993, but was still noted as a rookie throughout the 1994 season
in which he finished eighth in the NL Rookie of the Year vote with a 12-7
record and a 3.15 ERA. In 1995 and 1996 he put up some decent numbers, but
nothing of real notoriety. In 1997; however, he had a career season. He went
15-9 with a 3.63 ERA and 125 strikeouts. His performance on the season would
help him make his first and only All-Star Game of his career. After that his
career took a downturn until the 2000 season which would be his only year after
’97 that he would have a win/loss record over .500.

So I guess there were a few diamonds in the rough amongst
all the bad play and decisions that were the ’97 season. You just have to know
where to look and what you’re looking for.

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About Me

My name is Benjamin Christensen and I am a recent graduate of University of Oregon in Eugene. I have two Bachelor's Degrees in News/Editorial Journalism and Magazine Journalism with a minor in English. I've been writing ever since I was a kid, mostly doing creative writing, but I've been going strong since I was 15 when I was able to land an interview with Grant Hill of the Detroit Pistons for the high school newspaper I was working for in Bakersfield, California. From that moment of awesomeness I knew that doing something that involved writing and sports was my way in life.
I am probably best known for being a cast member of Season 2 of the MLB Fan Cave. You know, the awesomely bearded guy with all the tattoos. I have an in depth knowledge and perspective on baseball and love to immerse myself into the culture of the game with the fans, players and newcomers.